The Happiness Machine
by ewok-with-bird-flu
Summary: 4th Doc and Romana discover a ship that travels the universe, saving species from the brink of distruction, altering natural time line progressions.
1. Chapter 1

How cruel the universe was, the Doctor thought mournfully to himself, as he watched the ship spin into oblivion.

The ship began to disintegrate. Would it be so terrible if….? He didn't think he could cope with much more guilt. People had died on his watch before, but never on this scale.. Thousands of people. Surely letting them live wouldn't effect time all that much..

"Doctor," Romana began.

He'd expected Romana to be the voice of reason, but now knew she was about to suggest a rescue attempt. He sighed. He had to be the responsible one, then.

"Species die, we cant change that." He said, simply.

"Sometimes we do. Doctor, if we know that the ship will be torn apart, why cant we do something? We can save earth from Skaroth, and the Daleks, and we can destroy Davros, and any number of megalomaniacs, why cant we save a peace loving species from dying in a horrible accident?"

"We cant interfere!" The Doctor shouted.

-

They had arrived on the Satellite to find the Fayrath, an old race, defending the last of their species against the Rainol, a vicious species. The Rainol threat hadn't been difficult to repel, but now the Doctor recalled how the Fayrath had met their end, after their departure from a Satellite. Fayrath technology was not very advanced, and a clash with a meteor storm in the asteroid belt saw the last of the Fayrath die in space as their ship was torn apart.

-

"Doctor, look," Romana said, shocked.

"And watch an entire race die?" The Doctor asked, disgusted.

"Look, there, a ship!" Romana pointed, and the Doctor turned, in time to see a large white ship appear in front of the Fayrath ship, they were heading straight for each other. The white ship dwarfed the first ship.

"That shouldn't be happening," The Doctor said, worriedly, "They're going to-"

The front of the ship opened up, like a gaping mouth, and drew the ship in to it. The metallic white jaws closed up, and the ship disappeared. "Into the TARDIS, quick!" The Doctor said.

Romana and K9 followed the Doctor into the TARDIS, leaving the now deserted Satellite.

"What are we going to do?" Romana asked him.

"Follow it,"

"Why? If it means-"

"Romana, I'm only going to say it once more, that ship has just _meddled_ with the fate of an entire _species!_ That causes paradoxes, and what do paradoxes cause? Filthy great bacteria, feeding of the disturbances, picking at frayed ends, that _cannot happen!_"

"Not always, Doctor. Anyway, maybe that's what was meant to happen. The Fayrath were meant to be eaten by a dirty great ship,"

"Negative, Mistress, historical documents state the Fayrath race was destroyed by a collision in the asteroid belt." K9 said.

The TARDIS plunged into the vortex, following the White ship.

"Come on! Come on," The Doctor shouted at the TARDIS, "Why wont you let me materialise?" He shouted, thumping the console in frustration. The TARDIS was unable to materialise on the White Ship.

"The ship is still in the Vortex, master," K9 reminded him, unhelpfully.

"Yes, I know!" The Doctor shouted.

The White Ship abruptly pulled out of the Vortex, the TARDIS followed it out, into a stretch of space that looked empty, except for a large burning shuttle.

The Doctor watched, horrified, as the White Ship opened its jaws and swallowed the shuttle.

"it's going around the whole universe," Romana said, after they had witnessed the ship save 3 satellites and 2 ships about to collide. "There must be millions of people on that ship. What's the that?" Romana said, quickly, as the TARDIS began lighting up, blipping. A distress call. "Aren't we going to answer it?" She asked, "It might be important,"

"I've got a feeling that it might be a result of the ship we're following. Interference, that ship is causing wars, accidents, trouble. We've got to get on it, Romana," the Doctor said.

"How? If it wont let us materialise.." She began, then realised what he meant. "Oh, no. We're not-"

"Oh yes we are," the Doctor cut her off.

"You want to materialise into certain death?" Romana asked, trying to pretend the idea wasn't exciting.

"Not quite 'certain death'. Hopefully the ship will turn up and eat us before any real damage is inflicted on the TARDIS."

"'hopefully'?"

The TARDIS leapt out of the Vortex into a meteor storm, much the same as the one that was supposed to have destroyed the Fayrath race.

They waited, the TARDIS jerked occasionally as it collided with a lump of rock.

"K9, can you detect another ship coming?" The Doctor asked the robot dog.

"Negative, Master, I can detect no other forms of life or technology in the vicinity."

-


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who belongs to the BBC.

-

"What now?" Romana asked, "We cant wait much longer,"

"We could try somewhere else. What do you fancy, a fire? An explosion?" The Doctor suggested, in a tone that Romana wasn't sure was really appropriate.

"Wouldn't that be 'Meddling in time', starting a fire in space, just to attract the attention of a ship?" She said.

"Master, my sensors detect a ship in the vicinity." K9 said, over the rumble and crash of lumps of rock bashing the TARDIS.

They watched the screen, as the White Ship appeared in front of them, it's mechanical mouth opening, the TARDIS was pulled inside the ship. A man, with long ginger hair, in loose, navy overalls, a cigarette hanging out his mouth, approached the TARDIS, holding a clip board, making a note of it's exterior appearance.

"Do we go out?" Romana looked towards the Doctor, who was still watching the screen intently.

"Wait, I want to see what he's going to do."

"He'll bash on the door," Romana said, as the man came closer. He raised a fist to the door, as the Doctor opened it, catching his fist to prevent him thumping his beloved TARDIS.

"Hello," The Doctor said, brightly.

"Is anyone on board hurt?" the man asked, trying to look past the Doctor into the TARDIS.

"No. We were wondering-"

"We? How many are you?" The man cut him off. Romana and K9 came out, pulling the door closed behind her.

"I'm the Doctor, that's Romana and K9," The Doctor quickly introduced them as the man noted something down on his keyboard.

"Now, we were wondering, what is this ship doing, er, Kit?" The Doctor asked him, seeing the man's name badge.

"This way," the man invited them to follow him, they moved out of a large area that contained nothing but the Time Lord's TARDIS, through a metal door, down a corridor, and into another room, this time filled with computers and machines.

"Excuse me, but do you realise what you're doing is incredibly irresponsible, and dangerous," the Doctor tried to provoke a response from the unresponsive man, "and stupid."

"Can you assume authority over us, Doctor?" The man asked, dryly.

"I should think so,"

"In that case, then, you can talk to the man at the top," he said, pleased to be able to pass them on, like a boring duty. "Wait here,"

A large screen faced the door, that showed the scans they'd taken of the time travellers. 'Time Lord, Time Lord, Robot," the scans were labelled.

"That's us," the Doctor nudged Romana, pointing at the screen. Suddenly his attention was caught by another screen, above the large one, showing images of the room they'd landed in. It showed a large truck tugging a trailer out of the room, carrying –

"Oi!" the Doctor yelped, "Where are you taking my TARDIS?"

"Doctor, the bay must be emptied. Your ship is perfectly safe," the man said, sounding tired, "I will take you soon," he finished, adding their names under the scanned images. There was a crackling sound, and the man took a radio from his belt.

"Yep?" he answered.

"Another one coming, Kit," A voice said, from the other end.

"Right. I've got the three from the police boxy thing. Vault 16. They want to speak to you, want to know about the ship."

"I'll be down." The voice said, and the crackling stopped as the communication was cut.

Kit backed out of the room, telling them to wait and someone would be down.

On the screen, the Doctor and Romana watched as the ship's huge mouth opened and engulfed another ship.

"Must be a huge scale operation," Romana noted.

"My sensors can detect over 50 different species of life form on this ship, master." K9 said.

"This is bad news." The Doctor said, gravely.

"Oh? Why?"

The Doctor and Romana spun around, seeing the newcomer in the doorway.

"Are you in charge here?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," the man shrugged. The Doctor eyed him. He was smiling, pleasantly. Not a megalomaniac, or a murderer, or invader. "This is my home, er, ship." He said, realising calling a ship his home would probably confuse them. "We try to save as many lives as possible."

"So you're the one responsible for-"

"Saving about a hundred species from complete obliteration?" the man interrupted, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "Yeah, you got me."

"How are you doing it?" Romana asked.

"Our Ship, she's clever." He said, fondly, patting the doorway. "She powers holes through the universe," he began.

"And rescues people?" Romana asked.

"Yeah," he said, "It's Milo, by the way," he introduced himself, "Well, if we _can_ save lives, why don't we?"

"Because it's interfering with timelines?" Romana suggested.

"But you think it's worth it, don't you, babe?" He said, quietly.

He wasn't the sort of alien they normally met with on their trips. Romana recognised the 'ban the bomb' signs, and the figure on the mans t-shirt, Jimi Hendrix, guitar god of the 1960s. He didn't look like the sort of foe the time travellers usually encountered, he was barefoot for a start, and had a relaxed manner about him. The ship smelt of musty old tobacco, and marijuana. But surely even someone stoned out of his mind can recognise what they're doing isn't really all that good?

Romana didn't say anything, though of course, secretly she did think it was worth it. Interfering with time was dangerous, especially if you didn't know what you were doing, as this man clearly didn't.

"Milo, perhaps you don't yet realise, but species that should be dead being alive isn't necessarily a good thing." The Doctor began.

"How can you know that, man?" the man said, coolly.

"The Fayrath, you picked them up about 5 hours ago. The Rainol you picked up just now, that ship there," he pointed at the screen, "they're enemies. Always have been. Now, at the moment, what's left of the Fayrath are peace loving people, but the Rainol have sworn to wipe out any trace of them. Now, over time, surely the Fayrath are going to start to fight back. Then it's a war. War, from saving someone? Is that worth it? Bloody casualties, victims of atrocities, other peoples getting dragged into it, spiralling out of control, bitterness, resentment, until finally the Fayrath are wishing they had died in deep space from poor technology." The Doctor said, heatedly.

"How d'you know about them? It's confidential who's on this ship." Milo asked, a little agitatedly.

"We've been following you,"

"Was it you, trying to break the transduction barriers?" Milo asked, loosing some of his cool exterior.

"Yes, we were trying to materialise our ship."

"And you couldn't, so you decided to trick us into picking you up?" He said, frowning as he worked it out. "What d'you want with our ship?" he asked.

"I want you to stop messing about with time."

"Why should we, what else do you do, tricking us into picking you up, following us through time?" Milo asked, quietly.

"I know what I'm doing. I only do what I have to, I don't cause paradoxes, and if I do, I put them right. Now, my TARDIS is picking up distress calls from planets not so far away from here, no doubt because your interference is catching up with people, and any more and there'll be severe trouble for them, all the people you 'saved', and yourselves."

"Then the ship'll detect they're in trouble, and step in, wont she?" Milo said, calmly.

"Didn't you start this to save lives, to do good?" Romana asked.

"Yeah,"

"What good are you doing, ploughing through the universe, saving race after race until every being in the universe is on this ship?" Romana reasoned.

She knew the Doctor was right, that this ship, while morally commendable, was causing more problems, ultimately more deaths, than it was solving.

"What d'you want us to do, Romana? Put them all back? Kill them all?" Milo said.

"First you've got to stop the ship moving to it's next point."

"Impossible," Milo said, looking at the floor.

"Why?"

"I'm not in charge,"

"You said it was your ship," Romana reminded him.

"Well.. no one owns this ship. I .. I said she was clever."

The Doctor realised what he meant, remembering coming across something similar in his previous incarnation: The City of the Exxilons. The Living City.

"You gave your ship a brain?" He said, horrified.

---


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry it took so long, and it's so short. School work and that.

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to the BBC

---

"Yes," Milo said, quietly. "She set up her own purpose. We're only here to catalogue, keep notes, histories.." Milo admitted.

"Why? Why did you give your ship means to control herself?"

"It was the only way we could keep her alive." Milo whispered.

"Who, the ship?"

"Sephy." he said, barely audible over the hum of the ship.

"To keep a friend alive, you encased her brain in your ship?" The Doctor asked.

"I didn't know what else to do!" Milo shouted. "We were going to go back, to recover her body for her, but.." he tailed off.

"She's got other ideas." The Doctor finished for him.

"Yes. We lost control of the ship.. She's obsessed with her purpose now.. She wont listen to anyone. Wont let anyone stop her."

-

"What should we have done? We _and_ the ship are only trying to do some good."

"Can we talk to her?" The Doctor asked.

"No, she wont let you."

"I thought not," the Doctor sighed.

"What happens to people, once you've picked them up?" Romana asked Milo, aware of how t.v-series-sci-fi it sounded.

"We record it, they stay on board until we gain communications with them, and finally, we arrange a drop off point." Milo said.

The Doctor looked grim.

"So, what are you going to do?" Milo asked, afraid to hear the answer.

The Doctor was taken aback. He was used to people fighting his ideas for their future all the way. He thought hard.

"First, I'm going to need to see your records."

Milo looked relieved. He lead the way to a lift shaft, where they went up several floors to what seemed like the top of the ship. The nerve centre, the Doctor thought, humourlessly.

Milo brought up pages and pages of records, and the Doctor busied himself looking through them, occasionally tutting or reminiscing on the species or their planet.

Romana didn't join him.

"You okay, love?" Milo asked her, joining her on the floor, happy to let the Doctor carry on slating species alone.

"This ship, it's constantly moving, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yes." Milo said, uncomfortably.

"Jumping through time?"

"Yes, I suppose, why?"

"Well, what if.. I don't know." Romana tailed off.

"We don't often have people turning up just to look around." He told her.

"No, so.. how do you avoid-, I mean, what if we were to find out, accidentally, the future of my race, say. We have no control over what's on this ship, so, for now, we could end up, just accidentally.."

"You're worried you'll find out some species in _your_ future, that will all die when you destroy this ship?" Milo asked.

"I hadn't thought of that," the Doctor joined the conversation, making them jump.

"I don't understand why you travel, Doctor, if it isn't to save people." Milo said.

"If this ship were to be attacked by an invading force, I would help you fight them. If you decided to take over some little planet, I would fight you, however, if there was an explosion on this ship that wiped you out, I couldn't help you. I mustn't meddle with time. I cant change timelines, I cant know the outcome of the battle before I get involved." The Doctor explained, gravely.

Milo stood, suddenly, feeling a sharp jolt running through his body. A Call. From Sephy.

"Excuse me, Doctor." He said, moving away. Romana and the Doctor watched him go, confused at his sudden departure.

"K9-"

"My sensors detect a signal calling him, Master," K9 told him.

"Who'd be calling to him, I wonder. Without the radio," The Doctor pondered.

"The ship," Romana said, and looked around. The main control panel for the whole ship was in this room. A bright light burned in the centre of it. The Brain. "Presumably she can hear everything we say, especially in here. Maybe it realises you're planning to stop it." Romana stopped short, Milo had returned, a gun trained on them. He looked worn out, his eyes dead.

The Doctor's hand found Romana's. "Run."

--


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to the BBC

---

Milo followed close behind the Doctor, Romana and K9, into the maze of corridors, that, they realised too late, he knew much better than they did. Finally, they came to a locked door.

The Doctor blasted it with bursts from the Sonic Screwdriver, but the ship refused to open the doors.

'Can't you open it?' Romana asked.

'Even the screwdriver cant force open a man's fist. This ship has a brain now. It's not just a machine anymore.' The Doctor said, quietly.

Milo appeared, starting his radiation gun. Blue light glowed around the Doctor, Romana and K9, who tried, and failed to use his laser gun in reply.

'Sephy wants you dead,' Milo said, justifying it to himself more than to them, 'if it's not me now..' he carried on, beads of sweat forming on his face.

'Milo, you've got to stop listening to her! It's not your friend in that centre anymore. It's lost whole parts of its mind, the parts that made it human, that made it your friend. It's obsessed with it's task, and it's going to go on and on, causing chaos, death and misery! That's not Sephy, is it? Don't listen to it.' The Doctor said, desperately. The relentless throbbing attack of the radiation gun boring into his mind.

Milo looked almost ready to cry, miserable and confused.

'She'll make an enemy of me.' He said, shakily.

'She'll destroy you. Either way, you die. It's only using you, it's not your friend. The paradoxes will eat away everyone on this ship. Everyone around here, everyone vaguely related with this place,' The Doctor said, panic getting more and more obvious in his voice.

Milo glances from the Doctor to Romana and back again, eyes wide, face pale. The gun slipped from his clammy hands, and the blue light faded away.

'Go and talk to it, you'll see. It's not your friend.' The Doctor repeated, quietly.

Milo went. The Doctor let go of Romana's hand, mopping his face and hands with his scarf.

'What do we do now, Doctor?' Romana asked.

'It's dangerous, but we've got to find out who's been here.. there could be hundreds of paradoxes, to put straight.'

'But surely, the operation's quite new, otherwise, wouldn't we have noticed it before?' Romana thought aloud.

'Yes, I suppose so,' The Doctor said, relieved.

Milo returned, still confused, but not as pale or shivery. He carried a large metal box in outstretched arms, like a fragile bomb. He set it down in front of the Doctor, and lit a cigarette. He looked towards Romana, as the Doctor crouched.

'He's right, that's not my Sephy.' He took a drag of his roll up, and offered it to Romana. She refused, politely.

'What have you done?' Romana asked.

'I ripped out her time travel capability.' He said, staring down a the box.

'Good man.' The Doctor stood up. 'Now, we've made an enemy of the ship, we'll have to be careful.'

'This is the furthest into the future we've ever been, I made sure of that before I ripped it out.'

'How? How did you control where you were?' The Doctor asked.

'I've.. got this connection with her. Limited, very limited, but I managed to lie to her. Said there was a catastrophe where there wasn't one.' He said, grimacing, and quickly taking another drag on his roll up.

'Connection?' Romana queried.

'Yes. A metal plate inserted into my brain. I'll probably die soon.' He said, calmly. He closed his eyes, and breathed in, heavily. He sank down the wall, until he was sitting on the floor, moaning softly, dropping his cigarette, that spilled acrid-smelling white powder on the floor.

'He's…?' Romana began.

'Disintegrating his brain. That's not just marijuana, there's acids fit to melt the plate that controls him.' The Doctor said, grimly. He squatted down, getting Milo's attention.

'Milo, you understand, don't you, we've got to undo what this ship's done.' The Doctor said, seriously.

'Yes, Doctor,' Milo sighed, weakly. He'd have a few more days until his brain got too muddle for him to be in control, and then he'd die. He knew the theories behind this, they'd speculated before, about this sort of thing, mostly in that joke sort of way, with morbid fascination. But now. The Doctor was intent on destroying what was left of his wonderful Sephy, he'd made an enemy of his home, and therefore his crewmates, his best friends, it was either die fast, due to intoxication, or painfully slowly, as the ship took control of him wholly, nerve by nerve, poisoning the blood supply, so he became no more than a robot, unquestioning and brain dead. He should have seen it coming. Threats like that were unlike Sephy, he should have seen the change earlier. Being encased in metal was burning away parts of her mind, scorching reasoning and compassion completely.

No, he'd go on his own terms. He felt light headedness take over the pain oozing through his mind, as the acids he was inhaling fought with the ships own virus. He began to trip, dragging memories of supernovas high above his head, to the front of his mind. Lying back with Sephy, before anything. Passing a joint around the circle, singing softly, old earth songs, with friends and lovers. _That was his Sephy._ Her feet softly stroking his, flowers that refused to stay upright in her hair, that smile. Milo suddenly felt anger swoop down, like a hurricane, dragging back the memories that haunted him, the government finding them, Sephy's screams, her blood. He screamed, yelled, how dare they, how _could _they? He tried to come out of the trip, but couldn't.

He pulled at the strains that held him, as the police broke her pretty little body, got bored and went away. Left her hanging in the noose.

Romana watched, horrified, as Milo scrunched up into a little ball, whimpering, calling out.

'What do we do, Doctor?' She said, urgently. The Doctor was lost in his thoughts, staring, eyes wide, mind racing, at the howling human on the floor. Romana dropped to her knees, touching his shoulder, 'Milo? Milo, d'you know where you are? Milo?!' She said, beginning to get anxious.

She helped him to sit upright, and he, tentatively, opened his eyes, seeing Romana at his shoulder.

He stopped clawing at the air, at his clothes, and face, and calmed down a bit.

'Are you alright?' She asked him.

'M'yeah,' he panted, closing his eyes again. 'The come down,' he explained.

'Doctor,' Romana stood, as Milo went to sleep, 'you cant just destroy the ship, can you, though, because not everyone is still on board.'

The Doctor looked at the floor, his hand straying to his jacket pocket.

'I don't know. I think we'll have to go far back, maybe even before this ship was created, or before it had a brain..'

'And stop the brain being connected? Doctor, surely that's much worse meddling than anything on this ship!' Romana protested.

'Someone alive when they should be dead causes far worse than something never existing to keep the dead man, that is, the man who should be dead, breathing.' He answered, pulling out a paper bag from his pocket.

Romana tried to make sense of what he'd just said. 'So.. you're going to make sure this girl's, Sephy's brain stays in her body?' She said, finally, 'meaning the ship never got the ability to control itself, the races that would have been saved by this ship wouldn't be, meaning wars wouldn't be started, atrocities suffered, crimes committed, eco-systems ruined, leaving the universe paradox free?'

The Doctor grinned at her.

'But, Doctor, how do you know you can? And that the universe wont be torn up by Bacteria?'

'They're called Reapers. How many species are there on this ship?' He asked, sure that Romana would work it out for herself.

Romana looked to K9.

'Over 80 species, master,'

'80. And there have been more, haven't there? So, how come the ship isn't being disintegrated by the bacteria, hmm?' The Doctor asked her.

'An alternate reality is possible..' Romana worked it out, 'If it wasn't, everyone on the ship would be dead anyway, but it is, so the universe continues with either reality.'

The Doctor grinned again, 'Jelly baby?' he offered, holding out the paper bag.

'But Doctor, you said you couldn't change timelines. How come you can now, just because this ship has?'

'If I'm right, some point in the past, before the brain was removed, there was a cross roads, where the two realities met, and at that point, either was possible. We just need to make sure we effect the change to the other instead of this one.'

'So, are we going to leave in the TARDIS?'

'I don't want to make an enemy of the ship,' The Doctor said. He paused, 'Ship, listen to me!' The Doctor barked, 'You've got to co-operate with us. If you don't you'll be the cause of more and bloodier wars than ever thought possible.'

'She wont listen, Doctor,' Milo sighed. 'And her circuits are already being fixed by members of the crew. She will continue to function in what vein she thinks correct. You cant stop it.'

'He's changed his tune,' The Doctor said, as Milo stood shakily.

'My sensors detect random figures in his brain, Master,' K9 said.

'His brain is being scrambled?' Romana said in disgust.

'Countering what he was doing to himself with the acids.' The Doctor nodded, 'He's losing his identity. The drugs are taking control, he's just the battle ground now. A husk.'

'But that's horrible. What can we do?'

'We cant do anything to stop it. Roll him a spliff and help it along.' The Doctor shrugged. Romana did as she was told.

Milo clung to Romana's arm, taking deep draughts on the spliff she was holding for him.

'Who was Sephy?' She asked him, watching his pupils go fuzzy around the edges, as his brain lost control of them.

'A friend. We lived together, slept together,' Milo fumbled, wobbling slightly. Romana gently put pressure on his shoulder, and he sank to the floor. 'She was one of the victims of the new regime, when the earth caved in to pressure and became a purely industrial planet. We protested, petitions. Thousands at first, but the numbers went down dramatically. Finally they blew up the third moon, that was the last straw for my Sephy. She made a speech, a personal attack on the high Minister, in public. They came and found us out on the last night in Hyde Park, beat us around a bit, but they went for Sephy. Strung her up in the middle of London, all bruised and mangled. Still breathing, still tripping.' He finished, breathlessly. 'We got so mad. Me, Kit, Jackson, the guys. Went nuts, shooting and stuff. We cut her down… she was babbling, off her face, goin' on about how we could do all this.. the ship was already set up, we'd already planned were gettin' outta there. We just… she came down, off the LSD, she was so scared, in so much pain. She begged us to do something. She didn't want to die. so. I cut her brain out.' He finished, tears in his eyes. 'And now… god, she's a monster.' Milo moaned, still leaning heavily on Romana.

The thought terrified Romana. The poor woman, dying, her brain being snatched and encased in a ship. She blanched.

The Doctor watched the young man struggle with himself, mournfully. He just hoped he _could _go back and alter the time line. He was sure, that moment could lead on to two alternate realities. One, where Sephy's mind was taken from her body, creating a super machine, leading to this reality: a young man's suicide, and Reapers slowly gnawing at the time-space continuum. Or a second leading to natural progression in species, including the death of some of them. He knew which was right.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, tugged the circuit covering off the wall, and he and K9 set to work destroying the circuitry workings of the ship.

Milo was gently rocking, hugging his knees, humming his favourite earth song. Romana, reluctantly, prepared another joint for the young man to take. It was evident he needed it. He wanted it. And, though it was assisting suicide, Romana felt sure it was better than letting him become a puppet for this ghastly ship. She pushed the doubt away: she'd deal with the guilt later.

She emptied the phial of white acid, from Milo's pocket, into the cigarette paper and rolled it up.

Milo took it, 'thank you,' he whispered, smiling a weak smile of defeat.

Milo watched her roll his joint, and tried not to be reminded of Sephy. Young, blonde and disconcertingly pretty, she did look very similar. He hugged her arm, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder. He took one final drag, and sank into oblivion.

---


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to the BBC

---

Romana felt the grip on her upper arm lessen, as Milo's eyes slid out of focus. He slid down the wall, freeing her arm.

'Doctor,..' Romana began, and he knew what she meant. Slowly, she stood up, looking horrified at the young man's lifeless body.

'We should leave, Romana,' the Doctor said, quietly, touching her lightly on the arm, drawing her out of her thoughts. 'Come on, to the TARDIS.' He said.

'But what about him?' Romana asked.

'We're going to sort this mess out. Come on.' he said, firmly, leading her away.

'Wont the ship know, and try and stop us?'

'I've sorted that out. I- that is to say- K9 and I disconnected the section with the TARDIS in it from the circuitry.'

'I thought you said you couldn't.'

'Effectively, we chopped off a limb.' The Doctor said, deciding to skip the technical gobbledygook. They quickly followed K9 through the huge ship, to vault 16, where the TARDIS had been towed.

The Doctor unlocked the ship, made a note of their current co-ordinates, and set new ones, the Randomiser having recently been left behind in the re-creation chamber on Argolis.

'When will we materialise?' Romana asked.

'I don't know how far back we have to go. You see, I think somewhere, there's a point where two alternate realities can exist. One which we were just caught up in, and another, in which the girl, Sephy, is allowed to just die, her brain in her body.'

Romana nodded, and the TARDIS materialised in London. It was, by now, a grey, faceless town. It was nearing midnight, and the streets were empty.

'Ah, the industrial age, the age that turned the earth into pure fuel. Only lasts a few years before the economy collapses. Earth soon recovers.' The Doctor recounted the history for her. 'Come on, Hyde Park's this way.' He set off briskly, hands in pockets, Romana followed, pulling her coat close to her.

'What about K9, Doctor?' She asked, noticing the Doctor had locked him in the TARDIS.

'He's very technologically advanced, Romana. If any economists on this planet saw him, he'd be taken apart and sold in pieces in minutes,' The Doctor explained.

They entered Hyde Park, coming across a group of young men and women sitting together.

Romana instantly recognised a younger, less tired looking Milo, entwined with a young blonde, staring at the sky, sharing a bottle of wine.

'Hey, babe, come to join us?' One stood, taking Romana's arm, tugging her down to join the circle around the fire. 'Last night of freedom, greenery. Last night of peace.' He said, solemnly. 'Mad, isn't it?'

The Doctor agreed, also sitting down. 'Why 'last night'?' he asked, curiously.

'This place, it gets pulled down tomorrow. Sold already. We fought it, but..' Sephy sat up and joined the conversation, also serious. Milo pushed himself up on to his elbows, reluctantly.

'Cant do anymore now,' he said, sadly.

'Nope,' the first man, Jackson, said, lighting a spliff.

'There is, y'know.' Sephy said.

'Please, love,' Milo pleaded softly. 'Seph, any more public attacks and you'll be done for, for sure.'

Sephy scowled at him in frustration.

'Just want to shake them up a bit.' Sephy said, 'they cant just ignore us!'

'Seph, Seph. Cool down.' Milo said, coolly. 'Look, you tried. They noticed, honestly, they did, but you know they're never going to change their plans just cos a few kids've unearthed some dirt on the PM. They're still gonna mine the hell out of earth, suck the life from it and sell it off. There aint nothin' we can do.' Milo finished, bitterly.

'What?' The Doctor asked, alarmed.

'She attacked the PM yesterday. On TV.' A smaller, ginger Kit, from the ship said, from the floor. 'They're comin' for us, y'know. They'll be on their way now.' Kit said, calmly, taking a drag on the spliff that had reached him.

As if on cue, the police arrived, guns out, longing to crush some protestors. One stepped forward, grabbing Sephy, hauling her to her feet. As one, the group leapt to it's feet, readying themselves for a fight.

'Don't!' the Doctor shouted at them. The policeman eyed him suspiciously.

'She's going quietly, isn't she? We're not fighting. You have no reason to hurt her.' The Doctor reasoned, dangerously.

'No.' The policeman said, slowly, 'she wont be made uncomfortable.'

None of them liked the sound of that.

'On what grounds are you arresting her?'

'Illegal drug use.' He had his excuse ready.

'What about us, then? You gotta arrest all of us.' Milo said.

'That wont be necessary.' the Policeman said, leading Sephy away.

'Bye then,' Sephy smiled and gave them a small wave, as she was pushed into the back of the van.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to the BBC

---

'They cant do that! She didn't do anything!' Milo shouted at the van as it pulled away.

'Milo, calm down,' Romana spoke without thinking. Milo froze.

'How'd'you know my name?'

'I heard someone call you it,' Romana replied, as truthfully as possible.

'Who are you, anyway?' Milo narrowed his eyes at her.

'Does it matter? All you need to know is that you have to calm down! If you go bursting in there to rescue or protest, Sephy will die, publicly, in unbearable amounts of pain! Governments don't like to be provoked, they will kill her.' The Doctor burst out, and Romana winced, aware of how much like a threat it had sounded.

'What? How d'you know? You've been spying on us, haven't you!' He yelled, desperately.

'No, of course not.' The Doctor dismissed the idea, snappishly.

'What's goin' on?' Milo wailed miserably.

'Nothing, really, Milo. But you should listen to him,' Romana said, 'Of course we'll help your friend, but you cant just barge in and attack the station.' She reasoned.

'But he said they're gonna kill her!' Kit shouted.

'Yes, they are.' The Doctor said, solemnly. 'She will die. Come on.' The Doctor strode off, leaving the group stunned in the park. He went to the police station, situated just over the road from the park.

'What does he mean?' Milo asked, confused.

'Look, we're at the crossroads of two alternate universes,' Romana decided to tell them, sick of Milo wailing at her. 'One, you attack the station, they beat her, break her bones, humiliate her, hang her, still breathing, and, before she dies, you take her brain from her body, and put it in your ship. Two… I don't know what happens, but I'm sure it's better than option one.' Romana hurried her explanation, leaving the group looking stunned.

'Cut out her _brain_?' Milo asked, disgusted.

'Yes! Now, come on.' Romana lead the way out of the Park, to where the Doctor was waiting.

'I.. told them,' Romana admitted, sheepishly.

'I thought you might.' The Doctor sighed.

'They seem to believe me.' Romana said, looking back at the group that had followed her.

Jackson stepped forward, solemnly. 'Lead the way, then.'

Romana hung back, and fell into step with Milo. 'How d'you know all this?' He asked her, not sure if he really wanted the answer.

'We were there, in the future.' Romana said. 'It was terrible. Your ship was burning Sephy's brain, all the parts that made her reasonable, caring and human. Mindlessly going about it's business, but causing terrible things.' Romana shook herself, mentally telling herself to shut up.

Milo took her arm, and Romana shivered, remembering the last time he'd done that.

'What are we going to do?' Jackson asked the Doctor as they walked.

'Say goodbye.' The Doctor said, helplessly.

They walked across the road to the police station, where the Doctor had been while waiting for them. Guiltily, the Doctor tried to ignore the drugged canvas cover he'd placed over the ventilation system.

'I've drugged the station. It should give us some time, I should be able to get her out alright.' he explained to Jackson.

'Get her out? I thought you said she was going to die?' Jackson said, confused.

'You heard Romana. She doesn't have to die in there, a prisoner. I can make sure she dies a free woman, in a little pain as possible.'

'You don't really want to do this,' Jackson read the Doctor's mood.

'I'm not sure I know what I'm doing, no.' The Doctor admitted. He came to a halt by the entrance. 'Wait here. I'm going to get her out.' He told the group.

'Doctor, you'll get caught.' Romana said, 'You'll need a distraction.'

The Doctor sighed, knowing she was right. He couldn't rely on a makeshift doped air system.

'Come on, Romana, round the back.' Milo said, and she followed him away.

The Doctor watched her go, unsure. He shook himself, reminding himself that she wasn't a blundering human, and could look after herself.

'Okay, you lot,' he turned back to the group, '_don't _be seen,'. He went in.

He smelled acrid smoke, but wasn't sure if it was real or due to the doped air system. He passed the slumped figure of a guard, directly under a vent.

'Sorry,' he muttered to the unconscious body. At least he'd be alright when he came round.

'You should probably leave,' Romana said to Milo, as she lit the pile of flammable materials they'd gathered. It was the only sort of distraction they'd been able to come up with at such short notice.

'What about you?'

'Not human, remember? I can get a new body.' She said, lighting more matches.

'Oh, right.' Milo said, not totally convinced. 'G'luck then.' He said, as he left through the back door.

The two guards left on duty stopped their patrolling.

'D'you smell burning, Pharson?' Garret asked.

'Yeah.' Pharson replied, 'better go look. Keep in touch,' he said, motioning towards the radio in his belt.

'Yeah,' Garret moved quickly through the building. He peered round the corner, where the smoke was starting to bleed round. Through the smoke he could vaguely make out a small, blonde figure adding to an already steady blaze. Had to be the girl they'd brought in.

'Pharson? The girl. She's lit a fire.' He said.

'Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot her! This is perfect. They want her dead anyway.' Pharson barked at him.

Garret reluctantly pulled the gun from its holster, taking aim at the constantly moving figure, flitting around the fire, avoiding smoke plumes. Garret didn't like this, especially considering her only real crime was speaking out. He ignored his conscience and shot.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to the BBC

---

Romana felt the bullet impact on her shoulder. She was glad it had been a poor shot, meaning she wouldn't be forced to regenerate. Though being shot did provide even more of a distraction. She stopped her hearts and collapsed onto the floor.

-

The Doctor sonicked Sephy out of the cell.

'Come on,' he lead her out of the building. Suddenly, he heard a shot, and froze.

'Doctor?' Sephy asked him, and he jolted out of his panic. Romana could regenerate if need be, she'd be alright.

They got to the exit, the smell of burning, and smoke trails snaking through the building dying down.

-

'Pharson? It's not her! I.. it's not the girl. It's someone else.' Garret turned the body over.

'What?' Pharson howled. 'Idiot! Well, quick, dump the body, and get back here! She must've been a distraction!' He cursed himself for not realising. He ran for the entrance, in time to see a tall man in long scarf and coat with his prisoner. Pharson had no qualms about shooting innocent people. He was the best shot in London.

The girl collapsed, and the man picked her up. He wondered about her friends. They were accomplices. But there were still laws, 'Innocent until proven guilty' still stood in most people's cases, he told himself. Best to leave them to it, anyway, they'd be off in their ship soon enough. He returned inside to deal with the fire.

-

Milo saw from his position in the park with Jackson, Kit and the others, Sephy buckled under the bullet. She fell, and the Doctor picked her up and carried her into the park.

'Sephy, love?' Milo said, as the Doctor laid her down on the grass.

'Hullo, Milo,' She said in response. 'Still alive.' She laughed weakly.

The Doctor looked around, about to go back to the station, when he saw his companion coming towards him.

'Romana, well done.' He smiled broadly at her. 'I heard a shot.'

'Yes. Poor shot, luckily. Got my shoulder. I stopped my hearts, so he thought I was dead. Was it enough?'

'You got shot?' Jackson asked.

'Yes. Went straight through. Regenerative tissue.' She explained

'Yes,' the Doctor said, in answer to her question, and indicated Sephy, who breathed her last, in Milo's arms.

'Still doesn't seem fair,' Romana said, bitterly.

'No,' The Doctor sighed.

Milo stood up, rubbing his face hard. 'You alright?' he asked her.

'I'm so sorry.' Romana didn't know what to say.

'It's better than the alternative.' he smiled, weakly. The two time travellers nodded their agreement. 'Thank you,' he whispered.

'Come on, Romana. We should go.' The Doctor said, trying to be practical.

'Yes. Goodbye, then.' Romana said. Milo hugged her, briefly, and they left the park.

The Doctor took one last look at the body, carried away between Milo and Kit, and shivered. He pulled his scarf up around his ears.

They returned to the TARDIS.


End file.
